Dana’s brother cleared of sex abuse charges

The allegations came to light during Mr Brown’s sister Dana’s 2011 Presidential Campaign

The brother of Dana, John Brown, has been cleared of all five counts of sex abuse dating back to the 1970s.

The 60-year-old, from Bracknell, had denied all five charges that were relating to two girls, aged 13 and 16 at the time, across multiple locations in Northern Ireland and England, including Wembley in North-West London.

The trial at Harrow Crown Court lasted three weeks, and Mr Brown’s defence barrister said in his closing statements that the prosecution’s case was at times like ‘an episode of Father Ted’.

He maintained that the claims had been fabricated by the victims and their families following bitter disputes over money and the ownership of a shared business interest.

The allegations came to light when former Eurovision winner Dana’s was campaigning to become Irish President in 2011 by a tabloid journalist.

She closed her eyes and as the jury returned the verdicts, before tearfully embracing her brother.

The jury of six men and six women found him not guilty of two charges relating to the first complainant earlier today.

Over an hour later they returned and acquitted him of the three remaining counts relating to the second complainant, deliberating for a day and a half in total.

Mr Brown had denied that his sister helped him to cover up the allegations as the prosecution’s Claire Howell this week claimed that Dana was aware of his behaviour and had partnered up with her brother in a ‘slick presentation’ to cover-up the alleged abuse.